Fencing.Net - Your Guide to Fencing & Fencing Equipment

Foil Girl · 02-09-2001, 05:39 PM

Hey guys-
This year's nationals are in Sacramento, right in my backyard, and I've been debating whether to enter in it. In my age group 14-U, I'm not sure that a ranking is required. I'm definitly going to go and at least watch all the good fencers. While haning out at my fencing club, and fencing all the people who have a chance at placing in nationals (and, getting my butt kicked very badly), someone suggested I should actually compete in it because it's not everyday that you dont' have to take a plane ride to nationals. At that point I'll obly have been fencing for about a year I was just wondering two things.
1) Whether or not to compete
2) Who else will be there?

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-Foil Girl
"If you don't have fun, you've already lost"

Drew42 · 02-10-2001, 05:56 AM

Go, Go, Go!!! I've also been fencing for about 1 year. I plan to go and fence and get my butt kicked. But I never turn down an opportunity to fence new people.

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"Thank God we are neither boxers nor wrestlers." Aldo Nadi

Shadow Fencer · 02-10-2001, 06:05 AM

You have an absolute incredible opportunity to have an experience that you don't want to look back and say "gee, I SHOULD have done it".

Go for it! Observing is ok, but doing it and being a part of it is something you can feel and be a part of!!!!!

GO.. GO... GO..

Am I clear?

Purple Fencer · 02-10-2001, 06:26 AM

Foil Girl,

Kiddo, if it's in your back yard and you only go to watch, you'll be missing out on a fabulous experience. I learned more my getting stomped at my first NAC than I ever had before.

Go do it! You might get foully slaughtered, but you'll have a great experience. The qualoty's a lot higher than even large secional events.

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Sam Signorelli -- I'll be mellow when I'm
DEAD!

saberbaby03 · 02-10-2001, 09:20 AM

Hey foil girl, you should definately go to nationals. What club are you from? Cutter, Clean Touch, myself and Saberkid are all from sacramento fencing club.

annika

02-10-2001, 03:09 PM

Wohoo! I has hoping someone would post about Nationals! LoL I'm debating also to go and watch, or fence... People at my club say it will be another 3-4 years before it's in the west coast again. I'm probably going to just watch. Maybe I'll catch ya there!

Rick · 02-10-2001, 04:31 PM

I plan on going... I live in Chicago and I estimate the entire cost for me to go would be about $1500-$1800 (not including all those neat fencing equipment I'm going to buy from the booths). That's staying in weekly-rate motels, renting dirt cheap cars, cost of airfare, and meals. I think with the USFA discount, United Airlines beats anybody's price (but I'm hoping for an air-fare war to pop up soon).
I think the experience of going to such a meet is well worth the money.
If it were in my backyard, I'd go in a heartbeat -- even secure that vacation time from work well in advance.

saberkid · 02-10-2001, 06:13 PM

fencingqueen, what club are you at what area? you should go and fence the events you can and watch the others, theres no question wether you should go or not its just GO!!! i went to JO's last year as my first NAC and i had only been fencing for 6 months (got killed pretty bad but it was worth the exp)and it was cool i think you should go!

Chris

Foil Girl · 02-11-2001, 06:28 AM

Okay! I'll go! Yay! <G> All I need is an underarm protector, a second electric weapon... knickers... LOL My money supply is plummeting! Maybe I'll ask for it as a REALLY early christmas present. Oh, I fence at the Davis Fencing Academy.

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-Foil Girl
"If you don't have fun, you've already lost"

02-11-2001, 10:45 AM

Foil Girl, I'm also 14U! I'm also planning on going now!

Yeah! That would be so awesome if we fenced eachother! I'll only be fencing like 6 months, ;-; but oh well! I think I'll have a blast, and plus I'll hopefully meet some of you!

saberbaby03 · 02-11-2001, 12:27 PM

You have to have a first tournament, and its better to pay a little to get your butt kicked than pay alot to go get your butt kicked across the country. Go and have fun!

annika

Lumberg · 02-12-2001, 05:12 AM

To FoilGirl,
To answer your question, a ranking is not required. You can go in as unrated. However, I think you need to compete in a qualifier in your division (or region) in order to compete in the Summer Nationals. Even if you come in dead last in the qualifier, you will be able to compete in Division III.

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Lumberg.
"...ahhh, we have sort of a problem here... yeah, you apparently didn't put one of the new cover sheets on your TPS report"

Clean Touch · 02-12-2001, 07:15 AM

EVERYONE here is dead on! The Nationals is the Mecca for fencers every year! Just think: you get to see the Zimmermans, all the hot fencers from across the country, and fence with them, too! You'll learn a LOT from the experience and be a better fencer for it!

As far as motels and rental cars go, why not buddy-up with someone else and split the cost? Get a roommate to share the motel room and split the rental car costs, take a bus or train, (there's an Amtrak and a Greyhound station downtown.) And I think I can safely speak for those of us at the Sacto Club in saying that we will be more than happy to point you to the sights you shouldn't miss!

Glad to hear you're going, Purple Fencer! I'll keep my eye out for you!

HEY! Maybe we should have a Fencing.Net party sometime during Nationals so we can all see who's who behind the screenames?

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Est-ce que l'attaque etait bon? Mais Oui!!

[This message has been edited by Clean Touch (edited 02-12-2001).]

Foil Girl · 02-12-2001, 07:17 AM

Do you know where I can find a list of qualifiers? Qualifying tournys, I mean.

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-Foil Girl
"If you don't have fun, you've already lost"

[This message has been edited by Foil Girl (edited 02-12-2001).]

Cutter · 02-12-2001, 11:42 AM

Some of you already know, but others don't, I am one of the Chairpersons and coordinator for Nationals here in Sacramento. I am already setting up a Fencing.Net gathering during the event and am trying to figure out the best day to do it to have the majority of us there. I will keep you posted on what I come up with. If anyone has any preferences on day, time and location, let me know.

See you all very soon here in beautiful (currently rainy) Sacramento.

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Cutter
"Don't run with that, you'll poke your eye out."

edew · 02-12-2001, 11:54 AM

You should check your division website, http://www.calweb.com/~mmirmak/fencing/

The U16/U14 qualifiers for Mountain Valley, Central California, and Northern California divisions are on 4/21. I don't know WHERE Mountain Valley's U16/U14 foil qualifiers are held, but probably at Davis or Central Valley. But don't quote me on that.

You should also be competing in the Bay Cup series, as we have Y14 foil competition (which has a fairly large turn-out). If you are already competing, well, good for you.

saberkid · 02-12-2001, 12:00 PM

foil girl fencngqueen thers a qualifyer at sac fencing club and you can go to pcc's for qualify

oiuyt · 02-12-2001, 12:40 PM

Cutter-
Kinda hard for us to tell you when's good for us w/o having an announced schedule of events, isn't it?

-B

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"Oh but you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you!"

02-12-2001, 03:07 PM

that's exactly what I was going to say oiuyt LoLoL! But I think a lil get together during the tournment would be really awesome!

[This message has been edited by FencingQueen4 (edited 02-12-2001).]

swordsen · 02-12-2001, 06:14 PM

Teh sad thing of course is that unless they are combining the div I witht eh summer nationals the zimmermans et all probably won't be there fencing.